Why I SERIOUSLY don't care what Celebrities Say about Anything

“[Marriage is a] dying institution.  I don't think we should live our lives in relationships based off old traditions that don't suit our world any longer."

This was a quote from actress Cameron Diaz.  Now, I understand that she is insulated in her little Hollywood bubble where the real world rarely penetrates, and I also realize she may have had bad experiences with marriage growing up (which many of us do), but to make such a statement is at best mistaken, and at worst, dangerous.

To say that marriage doesn't suit our world any longer is like saying that cells don't suit our bodies any longer.  The body is made up of about 75 trillion cells, and when those cells get sick or die, the entire body suffers.  Family is to society what cells are to the human body.  It is the fundamental building block of any nation or society, and if the family gets sick or dies, the nation or society dies along with it.  I would argue that with a few notable exceptions, families with married parents are more stable than single-parent families.  That's not to diminish the work being done by single parents.  Many of them do a great job with the stresses involved.  But I would argue that having two parents makes the job much easier.

Now, the only way a two-parent situation builds the optimal family unit is if there is permanence.  That goes without saying.  Marriage is the answer, or should be, for that permanence.  So, if marriage is the key to having a stable, two-parent family, and if the family is to society what cells are to the body, then I would make the case that marriage not only "suits our world," as Ms Diaz puts it, but it ESSENTIAL to our world. 

So, if that is all just plain common sense, why would Ms. Diaz say something like that?  Well, Ms Diaz is simply reflecting a disturbing trend that is becoming more and more common in our society.  That is simply self-centeredness.  The self-centered person is all about me, me, me.  The self-centered person can't stand making commitments and sacrifice, because that would take maturity and wisdom- both of which run contrary to self-centeredness.  The self-centered person sees marriage as something that is good as long as it benefits me (and it has to benefit me every moment, not just some of the time or most of the time).  The self-centered person never sees himself or herself as part of a larger picture.  All the self-centered person sees is me, me, me.

To a self-centered person, marriage is the ultimate death-threat.  Marriage is not easy nor is it always fun, rewarding, or fulfilling.  It takes work, commitment, and sacrifice.  It also brings joy, stability, productivity, and lifelong committed love.  Plus, and you never hear this from Hollywood, married people have better sex.  That's just an aside, though. :) 

So, Ms Diaz is basically saying that since we are such a self-centered society, marriage doesn't fit our world any more.  She makes a good point.  Marriage will not work where there is childish self-centeredness.  It will fail.  However, marriage is not the problem.  Self-centeredness is the problem.  The same self-centeredness that runs contrary to marriage will ultimately destroy this nation, just like a virus that destroys cells in your body.  Ever wonder how something as tiny as a virus could kill a human?  It does it one cell at a time.  The virus knows that in order to destroy the body, you must destroy it at the most basic level- the cellular level.  The same is true of any society or nation- in order to destroy it, you have to take out the family.  If you can't take out the family completely, then make the families sick.  Split up the parents.  Get couples living in "I'll stay in as long as it is good for me" relationships so that the transmission of values to the next generation never happens.  Grow up an entire generation of kids who never had fathers in the home.  Grow up an entire generation of kids living in two separate homes every other weekend, never having stability or the foundation of a secure, stable home.  That sounds like a great way to kill a nation. 

So, keep at it, Ms Diaz.  You and all your self-centered movie stars out in the the fantasy world of Hollywood just don't get it.  Continue living in your perpetual adolescence where the end of your nose is where your vision stops.  My advice?  Stick to acting.  We like your movies- but we can't stand your philosophies.